Reassessing Modernisms in Light of Jerome Rothenberg’s Work

Abstract

More than moments in history, the complex terms “modernism” and “modernity” need reassessing. Therefore, by using Rothenberg’s work as a point of departure for a wider reassessment of modernisms, this paper aims at revisiting not only 1914-1945 avant-garde American poetry, but also earlier and later international outputs (including performance, magic, ritual, oral, and outsider poetry). Embracing folklore and turning away from epic poetry, Rothenberg discloses some of the predecessors and successors of modernism, as well as the lesser-known acts of their canonized yet wobbly time frame. As a poet and anthologist, he militates for a dialogic representation of the multiple identities that the radical poets—witnesses, namers and tricksters—embody in their struggle against univocity and cultural hegemony. This paper first sets out to explore Rothenberg’s handling of the sources preceding the poetic avant-garde’s surfacing at the beginning of the 20th century. Then it addresses the issue of poetry and socio-political engagement, spanning the 1910-1970 era. Finally, it illustrates how Rothenberg’s anthologies map out the Pan-American and global inscriptions of modernisms on a wider historical and geographical scope. If Rothenberg’s work highlights the universal impulse of the most radical trends of international modernisms, it also defines poetic resistance as a contradictory yet necessary contextual response to the call of History.